Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego…

Does anybody else have fond memories of the old computer game – and television game show – “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”

You know the one I mean: the game that teaches kids about geography, history, and international affairs. The basic premise of the franchise has the user being agents of the ACME Detective Agency, which attempts to thwart and capture V.I.L.E. ringleader and former ACME agent Carmen Sandiego.

In the reality of impending 2010 mid-term elections, Carmen Sandiego is the religious freedom ambassador of the Obama Administration. Eighteen months into his Administration, President Barack Obama has STILL failed to nominate an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom as required under the unanimoulsy passed 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.

While rumor has it that the President has already chosen Reverend Suzan Johnson Cook for the post, there is significant opposition to her potential nomination. The opposition to her comes from some heavy hands in the religious liberty world and seems to be grounded in the belief that she is not qualified for the post.

Some of those opposed to Reverend Cook have even gone so far as to try to recruit another candidate for the post, Leah Daughtry. Daughtry had taken herself out of the running for the ambassadorship.

One Cook opponent says that Daughtry,

took herself out of the running in large part because she asked for the kind of independence and status within State that you and I have long advocated, and was refused. She reportedly wasn’t interested in taking the job if she couldn’t have the authority she needed to do it well.

While some are advocating Daughtry for the post, she too comes with significant qualifications limitations. Her only significant relevance seems to be that she was head of the Democratic Party’s Faith in Action initiative to reach out to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim voters when Howard Dean was DNC Chair.

I also need to make a point I’ve made before but it bears repeating: by this point in the first Bush term, John Hanford had been chosen, nominated, confirmed by the Senate, and sworn into office. Regardless of whether or not we approved of the Bush Administration or Ambassador Hanford’s handling of the job, we have to acknowledge that a lack of an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom 18 months into a presidency says quite a lot about President Obama’s interest in the issue.

I wonder if we could get Broderbund Software co-founder Gary Carlston and programmer Dane Bigham to come up with a “Where in the World is the IRF Ambassador” game to help the President out…